I've found myself in an odd situation with a longstanding client that I personally don't have a precedent for, and I can't find one online either.
I have been a contractor for a company in the UK for a number of years. Recently however, they have decided that all jobs in a given month should be collated into a single invoice delivered at the end of each month.
Each job has its own contract. I realise that in the short term I have agreed to this new system, however I had already allocated time for the jobs, and it seemed preferable to just do the work, rather than search for other clients during that period.
Under the new system, the payment for a job completed at the beginning of the month could potentially not come through for at least 60 days, and that's before any accounting problems.
There was no communication before implementing this change, and they are now refusing to accept (i.e., won't even read) invoices before a given date each month. Is this something that anyone has come across before?
I can see why this could be a preferable set-up for this client, but it feels like something about this isn't correct. Although I doubt it's illegal, I can't find any sources online about a similar situation. I'd prefer not to drop them as a client, but the lack of discussion feels like it was a decision taken in bad faith, so it is an option. I'm going to discuss it with my point of contact, but I currently feel under-informed.
Any advice on how to handle a situation like this?